Northern Ireland to ban the sale of single use vapes by April 2025

Environment Minister Andrew Muir MLA has announced his intention to prohibit the sale and supply of single use vapes in Northern Ireland, in parallel with the rest of the UK.

The move recognises the strong support from the Northern Ireland public for a ban on single use vapes in response to the UK wide consultation on ‘Creating a Smokefree Generation and Tackling Youth Vaping’.

Minister Muir said: “I have listened to concerns over the environmental impact of single use vapes and I’m delighted to announce that my Department is taking action to progress a ban on the sale and supply of single use vapes in Northern Ireland.

“The environmental damage created by the alarming rise in the littering and incorrect disposal of used vapes is a key concern. It's estimated that as many as five million single use vapes are simply thrown away in residual bins or littered every week across the UK, rather than being recycled. Single use vape waste introduces plastic, nicotine salts, metals and lithium-ion batteries into the environment and can have a devastating impact on our environment and biodiversity.”

A single use vapes working group has been formed between Northern Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales. Under current plans, each nation will progress its own legislation and have agreed to work towards a joint coming into force date of 1 April 2025.

The Minister concluded: “Whilst timelines are extremely ambitious, my department is working at pace to progress this piece of work. I also welcome the collaborative engagement between Government officials across the UK to address single use vape issues. Alignment of approaches will deliver shared health and environmental benefits and will help provide clarity for businesses which are currently selling single use vaping products.”

Last year an NI campaigner against children accessing vapes in Northern Ireland lamented that there is still no guidance for schools on the matter from health chiefs.

Dr John Kyle, a retired GP former councillor at Belfast City Council, was speaking after the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced a clamp down on a legal loophole which allows retailers in England to give free vaping samples to children.

There will also be a review into the rules around the sale of "nicotine-free" products to under-18s in England.

The move came after the BBC reported that used vapes gathered at Baxter College in Kidderminster contain high levels of lead, nickel and chromium.

The Inter Scientific laboratory, in Liverpool, analysed 18 vapes and found most broke the law on permitted levels of metals and had not gone through any kind of testing before being sold in the UK.

Dr Kyle said he was not aware of any problems with free samples being issued in Northern Ireland.

However his main concern for teenagers was focussed on disposable vapes.

"We know that the vast majority of vapes being used by teenagers are disposable," he said. "So banning disposable vapes would dramatically reduce the sale of vapes to teens. Scotland has been looking at this very approach recently.

"It is also clear that schools still have no guidance on how to handle this issue from the Public Health Agency. In my view they should simply be banned in schools."